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Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Tuesday March 24,1998 Vol. CXXXIII, No. 43
Headlines
r
Long journey reaching its end
As his career winds down, USC senior middle blocker Szilard Kovacs will look to lead his young team into the playoffs. The Trojans have six matches left, five of which are on the road.
Sports, page 20
The View by a few and the video crews
While "Titanic" washed away the Oscar awards Monday, hundreds of spectators, some of whom traveled across oceans of their own to get a glimpse of the awards, were turned back.
Diversions, page 7
OPEC challenge good for motorists
A battle between Venezuela and Saudi Arabia over the sale of oil has led to cheaper gasoline for Americans, but Editorial Columnist Angie Chen points out that the ramifications extend further.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Photo exhibition, religion experts
As part of Fisher Gallery's "Tuesdays at Fisher" series, an event called "Interactive Gallery Tour" will take place at noon both today and tomorrow at Fisher Gallery.
For more information, call (213)740-4561.
• • •
Religion historian Elaine Pagels will be speaking at 7 p.m. tonight in Bovard Auditorium. Admission is free to students with USC ID. Tickets are $5 for faculty and staff and $10 for the general public. Tickets are available at the USC Ticket Office, Student Union, room 100, or by calling (213) 740-7111.
• • •
An open-mic poetry reading, as well as jazz music, will be featured from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. tonight at the Inglewood East Ellis Coffeehouse.
The coffeehouse is located at 1139 La Brea Ave.
For more information, call (310) 673-3303.
Ex-DPS officer arrested for death
Sergeant, charged with lewd acts upon a juvenile, is now jailed without bail
By Angie Chen
Assistant City Editor
A former USC Department of Public Safety sergeant who was out on bail on charges of committing lewd acts upon a juvenile is now being charged with fatally shooting his wife, Ontario police said.
Steven Sickles, 42, was arrested last Thursday on charges of allegedly shooting his wife, Catherine, in the head just before 8 p.m. at their home on the 1300 olock of Flora Street in Ontario, according to a press release issued by the Ontario
Police Department.
Sickles, an 18-vear DPS veteran who resigned in November, called 911 saying that his 42-year-old wife had committed suicide, according to the statement. Officers arriving at the scene found Catherine Sickles' body in the master bedroom with a single gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the press release.
Police questioning Sickles at the residence decided that the physical evidence and statements made by Sickles warranted a call to Ontario homicide
detectives, according to the statement.
"People that knew Steve are shocked and depressed because they knew him and they certainly didn't think he'd be capable of anything like this.,., It sure doesn't reflect favorably when a member of your organization (goes against your) ethics," said Bob Taylor, deputy chief of DPS. "We're supposed to be the ones who uphold the law and are relied upon to do so and here's someone who's contrary to all of the values we hold dear."
Sickles was charged on two felony counts of a lewd act upon a child last December. The 14-year-old Explorer involved in the investigation alleged that she was fondled by Sickles in a
campus parking structure in May and at tne Forthmann House, where DPS offices are located, last June.
Sickles resigned from DPS on Nov. 14, less than a month before criminal charges were filed. He was arrested Dec. 16 and pleaded not guilty to both counts at a hearing on Feb. 18 this year.
"He was a very successful
A Titanic of a day
Courtny Photo
James Cameron, director of the box-office-hit “Titanic,” headlined the 70th Annual Academy Awards Monday at the Shrine Auditorium, while hundreds waited outside.
For complete Oscars coverage and reactions, see the Diversions section, page 7.
officer — very well liked, ver professional. .. He was an excellent employee the whole time he
was here," DPS Chief Steven Ward said. "He was selected for a number of high-profile assignments."
Ward said that Sickles resigned before the completion
(See Sickles, page 12)
A bumpy ride for Judicial Council
By Ben Berkowitz
Assistant City Editor
The Student Senate Judicial Council added three members Friday after a vote recount, and then it lost two members due to a technicality Monday.
The new members of the senate's le^al arm enter their positions with no senate experience and are likely to have a decision next week on a petition calling for a new election.
Ido Dotan, a freshman majoring in business; Kyle Robarge, a junior majoring in music recording; and Kevin Steele, a senior
(See Senate, page 3)
Honors program aims to challenge students
By Christine Frey
Staff Writer
After an unsatisfactory effort at essay writing, a frustrated college freshman attempts to commit suicide by slitting his wrists with binder paper. Failing in his endeavor, the student attaches a $20 bill to the essay in the hope that his writing instructor will look upon it favorably.
But the writing instructor does not actually read the papers to grade them. She throws them down a flight of steps which are marked in descending order: "F," "D," "C." Only those papers that reach the bottom of the staircase
receive an "A."
This is Van Ling's comedic vision of USC's honors general education program, Thematic Option, in his film, "Traumatic Option." Ling, a former Thematic Option student, explored the horrors of what is considered to be one of the most academically challenging programs at the university by both students and faculty.
"I think that Thematic Option expects more out of its students than any other program that I've been involved with at the university," said Melissa Hahn, a freshman majoring in international relations and a Thematic Option student.
Amb*r Otto / DaUy Troian
Students in a first-year Thematic Option honors class listen during a recent lecture.
Thematic Option, which started in the mid-1970s after USC received a $750,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, aims to offer academically strong students an alternative track to general education that is more interdisciplinary. However, Thematic Option and General Studies administrators said that with the new general education program, there are few differences between the two.
"1 think the first thing to recognize (is) they have moved closer together, said Robin
Romans, director of Thematic Option.
Romans said the general education classes have become more like Thematic Option classes: smaller and interdisciplinary, with a larger emphasis on writing
Writing reigns
hematic Option writing c Writi
Ng rei
The The capped at 15 students, and capped at 17.
classes are ting 140 is
(See Honors, page 2)

Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Tuesday March 24,1998 Vol. CXXXIII, No. 43
Headlines
r
Long journey reaching its end
As his career winds down, USC senior middle blocker Szilard Kovacs will look to lead his young team into the playoffs. The Trojans have six matches left, five of which are on the road.
Sports, page 20
The View by a few and the video crews
While "Titanic" washed away the Oscar awards Monday, hundreds of spectators, some of whom traveled across oceans of their own to get a glimpse of the awards, were turned back.
Diversions, page 7
OPEC challenge good for motorists
A battle between Venezuela and Saudi Arabia over the sale of oil has led to cheaper gasoline for Americans, but Editorial Columnist Angie Chen points out that the ramifications extend further.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Photo exhibition, religion experts
As part of Fisher Gallery's "Tuesdays at Fisher" series, an event called "Interactive Gallery Tour" will take place at noon both today and tomorrow at Fisher Gallery.
For more information, call (213)740-4561.
• • •
Religion historian Elaine Pagels will be speaking at 7 p.m. tonight in Bovard Auditorium. Admission is free to students with USC ID. Tickets are $5 for faculty and staff and $10 for the general public. Tickets are available at the USC Ticket Office, Student Union, room 100, or by calling (213) 740-7111.
• • •
An open-mic poetry reading, as well as jazz music, will be featured from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. tonight at the Inglewood East Ellis Coffeehouse.
The coffeehouse is located at 1139 La Brea Ave.
For more information, call (310) 673-3303.
Ex-DPS officer arrested for death
Sergeant, charged with lewd acts upon a juvenile, is now jailed without bail
By Angie Chen
Assistant City Editor
A former USC Department of Public Safety sergeant who was out on bail on charges of committing lewd acts upon a juvenile is now being charged with fatally shooting his wife, Ontario police said.
Steven Sickles, 42, was arrested last Thursday on charges of allegedly shooting his wife, Catherine, in the head just before 8 p.m. at their home on the 1300 olock of Flora Street in Ontario, according to a press release issued by the Ontario
Police Department.
Sickles, an 18-vear DPS veteran who resigned in November, called 911 saying that his 42-year-old wife had committed suicide, according to the statement. Officers arriving at the scene found Catherine Sickles' body in the master bedroom with a single gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the press release.
Police questioning Sickles at the residence decided that the physical evidence and statements made by Sickles warranted a call to Ontario homicide
detectives, according to the statement.
"People that knew Steve are shocked and depressed because they knew him and they certainly didn't think he'd be capable of anything like this.,., It sure doesn't reflect favorably when a member of your organization (goes against your) ethics," said Bob Taylor, deputy chief of DPS. "We're supposed to be the ones who uphold the law and are relied upon to do so and here's someone who's contrary to all of the values we hold dear."
Sickles was charged on two felony counts of a lewd act upon a child last December. The 14-year-old Explorer involved in the investigation alleged that she was fondled by Sickles in a
campus parking structure in May and at tne Forthmann House, where DPS offices are located, last June.
Sickles resigned from DPS on Nov. 14, less than a month before criminal charges were filed. He was arrested Dec. 16 and pleaded not guilty to both counts at a hearing on Feb. 18 this year.
"He was a very successful
A Titanic of a day
Courtny Photo
James Cameron, director of the box-office-hit “Titanic,” headlined the 70th Annual Academy Awards Monday at the Shrine Auditorium, while hundreds waited outside.
For complete Oscars coverage and reactions, see the Diversions section, page 7.
officer — very well liked, ver professional. .. He was an excellent employee the whole time he
was here," DPS Chief Steven Ward said. "He was selected for a number of high-profile assignments."
Ward said that Sickles resigned before the completion
(See Sickles, page 12)
A bumpy ride for Judicial Council
By Ben Berkowitz
Assistant City Editor
The Student Senate Judicial Council added three members Friday after a vote recount, and then it lost two members due to a technicality Monday.
The new members of the senate's le^al arm enter their positions with no senate experience and are likely to have a decision next week on a petition calling for a new election.
Ido Dotan, a freshman majoring in business; Kyle Robarge, a junior majoring in music recording; and Kevin Steele, a senior
(See Senate, page 3)
Honors program aims to challenge students
By Christine Frey
Staff Writer
After an unsatisfactory effort at essay writing, a frustrated college freshman attempts to commit suicide by slitting his wrists with binder paper. Failing in his endeavor, the student attaches a $20 bill to the essay in the hope that his writing instructor will look upon it favorably.
But the writing instructor does not actually read the papers to grade them. She throws them down a flight of steps which are marked in descending order: "F," "D," "C." Only those papers that reach the bottom of the staircase
receive an "A."
This is Van Ling's comedic vision of USC's honors general education program, Thematic Option, in his film, "Traumatic Option." Ling, a former Thematic Option student, explored the horrors of what is considered to be one of the most academically challenging programs at the university by both students and faculty.
"I think that Thematic Option expects more out of its students than any other program that I've been involved with at the university," said Melissa Hahn, a freshman majoring in international relations and a Thematic Option student.
Amb*r Otto / DaUy Troian
Students in a first-year Thematic Option honors class listen during a recent lecture.
Thematic Option, which started in the mid-1970s after USC received a $750,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, aims to offer academically strong students an alternative track to general education that is more interdisciplinary. However, Thematic Option and General Studies administrators said that with the new general education program, there are few differences between the two.
"1 think the first thing to recognize (is) they have moved closer together, said Robin
Romans, director of Thematic Option.
Romans said the general education classes have become more like Thematic Option classes: smaller and interdisciplinary, with a larger emphasis on writing
Writing reigns
hematic Option writing c Writi
Ng rei
The The capped at 15 students, and capped at 17.
classes are ting 140 is
(See Honors, page 2)